“Where the Road Turns is a rich and textured collection of poems interested in gender roles, issues of cultural identity, and migration. The book opens with the poem ‘Cheede, My Bride... [continued in Reviews below]”—Renee Emerson, New Pages

The fourth poetry collection of Patricia Jabbeh Wesley.

In Wesley's fourth poetry collection, she continues her lyric exploration of what it means to be a survivor and an immigrant, retelling stories of a generation ruined by war and grief, and the healing that follows.

Reviews / Endorsements

“Where the Road Turns is a rich and textured collection of poems interested in gender roles, issues of cultural identity, and migration. The book opens with the poem ‘Cheede, My Bride: A Grebo Man Laments—1985,’ a narrative poem from the perspective of a Grebo man who contemplates the role of his wife in society: ‘in Monrovia, women wear pants and a man / may walk around, twisting like a woman’ and ‘they say women fell trees and men walk / upon them like bridges.’”—Renee Emerson, New Pages

“Wesley possesses a distinctive, lyrical gift of the highest order…. The emotional appeal of her poetry is direct and accessible. She also has a dramatic gift and a masterly command of place.”—Robert H. Brown

A Liberian civil war survivor, PATRICIA JABBEH WESLEY is the author of three previous books of poetry: The River is Rising, Becoming Ebony, and Before the Palm Could Bloom: Poems of Africa. Her awards include a World Bank Fellowship, a Crystal Award 2006, and the Liberian Award for her documentation of the Liberian civil war experience in poetry. Her work has been anthologized in Europe, South America, Africa, and in the United States. She teaches Creative Writing and Literature at Penn State's Altoona campus.